A senior official of the Special Olympics International (SOI) on Sunday spoke highly of the on-going Shanghai Special Olympics, saying the city has set an example for the international Special Olympics movement.
Dicken Yung, president of SOI east Asian region, praised China's efforts to prepare for the grand event. He believes Shanghai's holding of the Special Olympics would facilitate more local people to realize the significance of Special Olympics movement in a bid to promote social inclusion of some 70,000 Shanghai people with intellectual disabilities.
In Shanghai, many activities of Special Olympics popularized in the grass-roots level, even in every village of the city's suburbs, such as the Sunshine House, a special health-care and training center established for mentally disabled people.
In the 1980s, there were only thousands of Special Olympics athletes in the Chinese mainland. However, the number had increase to 50,000 in 2005 and over 600,000 at present, Yung said, adding China is the country that boasts the fastest development of the Special Olympics movement.
According to him, many enterprises in the Chinese cities such as Shanghai and Guangzhou are increasingly interested in the Special Olympics movement. Lots of companies and shopping malls in Guangzhou are sponsors of the activities of Special Olympics.
He called on more Chinese enterprises to participate in China's Special Olympics movement.
As an international non-profit organization, SOI is dedicated to empower individuals with intellectual disabilities to become physically fit, productive and respected members of society through sports training and competition.
In China, efforts are being made by Special Olympics China, the government and society as well, to grant more care, respect and assistance to mentally disadvantaged people.
The on-going Shanghai Special Olympics World Summer Games had drawn over 10,000 athletes and coaches from all over the world. It will last until Oct. 11.
Source: Xinhua
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